Masquerade (7 page)

She leaned her head against his shoulder as he and Alex talked on the way upstairs. Nothing felt more perfect than this moment in time with them together. No one could say they weren’t a family in every sense of the word.

The next morning, the endgame was played when Vernon came up to the front door. At sunrise Tempest heard the Acadia pack pulling up stakes and getting ready to head back to their own grounds. Two hours later, she was in the kitchen making breakfast while Dominic and Alex drank coffee at their natural wood table. The knock on the front door made them all glance at each other. They knew it was Vernon.

“Do you want me to stay here?” Tempest asked.

Dominic held out his hand. “No, honey, we do this together. He has to see we’re not going to hide you away.”

“Let me do the talking, Dominic. He rubs you the wrong way and you may rip his head off.” Alex chuckled. “I’ll be the voice of reason, but a firm one.”

The knock sounded again more insistent this time and a low growl came from Alex’s throat. His voice of reason had a temper too.

“Honey, remember, calm voice of reason,” Tempest said gently. She laced her fingers with his and Dominic’s and together they walked to front door. They stepped, united, outside and she saw Vernon glance at their hands. His mouth tightened and irritation crossed his face, yet he smiled wide though it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I’ve come to thank you for your hospitality,” Vernon said. “You were very helpful last night.”

Alex inclined his head. “We were glad to help.”

“Then we bid you goodbye and we will see you in the next few weeks for check in,” Vernon said. “We hope to see you as well, Tempest. The pack has become fond of you.”

“You won’t be seeing any of us, especially Tempest,” Alex said.

“Excuse me? I don’t think I heard you correctly.” Vernon growled, a menacing sound that made the two men standing behind him shrink back while it didn’t make Alex or Dominic flinch.

“You heard me very clearly, Vernon. I noticed while the rest of us fought you didn’t even shift,” Alex said conversationally.

“I am pack leader. I don’t have to—”

Alex cut him off. “No, you don’t, but I would think you’d fight for your pack. But here we were doing it for you, and I believe that earns us the right to never have to see your face again.”

“You believe wrong. This is my area and you’ll check in until I deem you don’t have to.” Vernon’s voice was ice cold.

“Well, then let me put it another way. We are taking the right and you will say nothing.” Alex’s tone was deadly. “Why? Because you know Dominic or I will challenge you for our peace.”

“You would challenge and lose,” Vernon spat out.

“Do you think you can send any of these men against us? We’d dissect your pack and you know it and you’re too much of a coward to stand against either of us,” Alex explained. “So you’ll go and stay in Acadia and we’ll have a mutual understanding not to encroach on each other’s property.”

“And if I refuse?” Vernon snarled.

“Then you die and anyone who stands with you dies.” Alex smiled coldly. “I hope that I make myself perfectly clear on this. Your pack is weak because it has a weak leader. Don’t make us prove it.”

“You may think this is over, but it’s not,” Vernon sneered.

“Yes, it is,” Dominic snarled. His canines descended and he moved so fast that Tempest didn’t even notice when he let her hand go. All she knew was that now he had one of Vernon’s companions held off the floor by the neck. “If not, Alex won’t be able to hold me back from ripping your throat out. See how easy it is for me to lose control? Imagine that tenfold, especially if you keep looking at Tempest the way you do.” He let go of the man he held by the neck and the man coughed and sputtered.

“Leave our property. Don’t come back or send any of your people. We’ll see that as an act of war and, trust me, we know how to wage one,” Alex said. “Leave now!”

Alex took a step forward and Vernon scrambled back. He missed the top step and fell to the gravel. The two men in the pack tried to help him up, but Vernon pushed them away angrily and stalked off with them following quickly at his heels. Tempest leaned against Alex’s shoulder and the three of them watched him and all his pack drive off their property.

“He’s already planning how to get back at us,” Tempest murmured.

“If he does, we’ll be ready and he’ll pay for it.” Alex kissed her temple.

“Don’t you worry, my sweet Tempest, you are always going to be protected by your wolf mates.”

Dominic picked her up, wrapped his arms around her, and twirled around until she laughed in delight. She looked down into his handsome, happy face. Dominic placed her on her feet and Alex kissed her and tried to tickle her, but she got away and ran from them playfully, trying to shut them out of the house. They got in and tackled her to the carpeted floor. She put her thoughts and worries of Vernon and everything else out of her mind. What repercussions their actions may bring, she knew they would face them together, whenever that time came. Right now, there was not a care in the world in the arms of her wolves.

The End

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five